11^th Summer Program in Punjab Studies, Chandigarh
July 1- August 11, 2007

I am glad to report that the 11th Summer Program in Punjab Studies went well. We had a group of fourteen participants, six of whom were doctoral students, two undergraduates, two graduates in computer sciences, two academic administrators, one physician, and one police officer. They came from nine universities (Chicago Medical School, Manukau Institute of Technology, Lund, San Francisco State University, Tufts, University of British Columbia, UC Berkeley, UC Los Angles, UC Santa Barbara), and their areas of research ranged from anthropology, criminology, education, film and media, history, literature, religion, to sociology.

It was gratifying to see participants’ general satisfaction. The precise ranking they assigned to various aspects of the program was as follows:

1. Punjabi: 1 (outstanding), 2 (excellent), 6 (good), 4 (Average), 1 (NA)?
2. History: 6 (outstanding), 6 (excellent), 1 (good), 1 (average)?
3. Culture: 10 (outstanding), 1 (excellent), 1 (average)?
4. Travel: 10 (outstanding), 3 (excellent), 1 (average)?
5. Organization: 11 (outstanding), 2 (excellent), 1 (average)?

The additional comments were invariably positive, some of the sentiments expressed read:

“The program overall was terrific—it entirely exceeded my expectations.”
“It is obviously an amazing program."
“I learned things in the program that could not be learned anywhere else.”
“This has been an unforgettable experience.”
“I hope that the program continues to grow and offer the opportunity to young scholars to explore the Punjab in this very unique way.”

Some felt the need for more review sessions and the suggestion is incorporated in the schedule for next year. Some thought that varied levels of exposure IN Punjabi class was a problem, and others suggested more emphasis on conversation. This indicates that there are still challenges in the teaching of Punjabi and we will do our best to improve this in the years ahead.

Finally, Professor Shinder Thandi of Coventry University, U.K., has been of great help in running the program in the past years and I am grateful that he has agreed to be part of this in the years ahead. Both of us hope to further strengthen this fruitful interaction between overseas scholars eager to learn about the Punjab and local luminaries with distinguished expertise in wide array of fields willing to impart their experiences and knowledge.

Gurinder Singh Mann